French outfit Lyon have confirmed that they have ended negotiations with Liverpool regarding the proposed transfer of Nabil Fekir. The France international was widely expected to join the Reds following a medical and a leaked introductory video but in a surprise change of events, the move has now been cancelled.

“Olympique Lyonnais informs that the tripartite negotiations with the Liverpool club and Nabil Fekir for the transfer of the captain of OL have not succeeded and that Olympique Lyonnais has decided to put an end to this negotiation tonight at 20:00. Although the club Liverpool has been the priority of a possible transfer of Nabil, and subject to other proposals consistent with the interest of Nabil and OL and from ambitious clubs, Olympique Lyonnais is delighted soon to be able to count on the presence of his captain who is a leading rookie for this season 2018/2019 during which the club will play the Champions League being in the 3rd hat of the draw,” the statement read.

If recent World Cups are any indicator, then backing the established stars of global football to be tournament top scorer just don't pay.

While you can, of course, bet each-way in the market with most bookmakers offering a quarter of the outright odds for four places, it is worth considering some fresher faces to step up instead of the usual suspects. Which new names on the global stage could be World Cup top scorer?

Gabriel Jesus (Brazil)

While Manchester City fans will know Gabriel Jesus and what he can do in front of goal well, the 2018 World Cup in Russia is the first major senior tournament he's played at. He did win a gold medal at the Summer Olympics on home soil in Brazil two years ago as part of their under-23 team.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has admitted that the Red Devils need to achieve more success under his management in order to be completely beyond the Sir Alex Ferguson days. After being able to win the Europa League and the EFL Cup in his first campaign at United, Mourinho is on course to lifting more honours in his second campaign is the club have made it to the final of the FA Cup.

Mourinho’s team will be taking on Chelsea in this final, but the key objective of the team remains the Premier league. However, United have been quite disappointing on this front and they are set to finish in second place for the 2017-18 campaign.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that he would consider the opportunity a new club, should his managerial reign with the Gunners come to an end. The 68-year-old has been regularly linked with a summer exit from the north London club as they face the prospect of missing out on Champions League for the second season on the bounce.

Real Madrid star Luka Modric has been named in the FIFA ’18 Team of the Year squad. The Croatia international was voted on the team by the media, athletes and members of the EA Sports FIFA community.

The annual list of best XI in the world also had Belgium international Kevin De Bruyne and Frenchman N’GoloKante in the midfield. The three made the final cut out of a group of 15 nominees. Barcelona’s Andres Iniesta, Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben, PSG’s Marco Verratti, and Juventus’ Paulo Dybala were nominated in the midfield category but the trio of Modric, Kante and De Bruyne won.

Russian official Alexei Sorokin has assured Arsenal fans that they will have nothing to fear during next month’s Europa League quarter-final tie against CSKA Moscow. The Gunners will play the first-leg of the last-eight stage in their home turf before heading for the decider in Moscow.As a result, the Gunners’ official website had published warning about the anti-British sentiments in the city, amid the political tension between the two nations.

However, speaking on TASS, Sorokin appeared to play down any safety concerns for the visiting supporters, the chief of the World Cup organising committee said: "We will ensure security in equal measures to all, from dignitaries to fans. It is a shame that the games will be played in such circumstances. There are absolutely no grounds for such warnings. To us, there is no difference which country people come from or what our diplomatic relations with them are."

Armenia international Henrikh Mkhitaryan has admitted that there was a secret conversation between him and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang prior to their January moves to Arsenal. Mkhitaryan arrived from Manchester United in a swap agreement involving Alexis Sanchez whilst Aubameyang arrived shortly after, on a club-record deal from Borussia Dortmund.

The Premier League has changed an awful lot since the first game on 15th August 1992, when the new era of football in England began with a set of results that saw Norwich defeat Arsenal 4-2 at Highbury, Leeds United beat Wimbledon 2-1 at Elland Road, and Brian Deane enter the history books after scoring the first ever Premier League goal (against Manchester United of all teams).

With some of today’s avid Premier League fans possibly not even alive when the last game was played at Highbury stadium, Wimbledon in their original form a distant memory when it comes to the Premier League, and a fair few of the original ‘dinosaurs’ removed from the footballing landscape (we’re looking at you Andy Gray and Richard Keys) since the early days of the league, it’s fair to say that times have changed.

The Premier League has changed an awful lot since the first game on 15th August 1992, when the new era of football in England began with a set of results that saw Norwich defeat Arsenal 4-2 at Highbury, Leeds United beat Wimbledon 2-1 at Elland Road, and Brian Deane enter the history books after scoring the first ever Premier League goal (against Manchester United of all teams).

With some of today’s avid Premier League fans possibly not even alive when the last game was played at Highbury stadium, Wimbledon in their original form a distant memory when it comes to the Premier League, and a fair few of the original ‘dinosaurs’ removed from the footballing landscape (we’re looking at you Andy Gray and Richard Keys) since the early days of the league, it’s fair to say that times have changed.

While the Premier League title looks set to be wrapped up in record time by Pep Guardiola’s Manchester in 2018, things certainly aren’t so clear in the rest of the league.

11 teams are embroiled in an extensive relegation battle for the ages, while at the opposite end of the league, the “top six” need to become a top four – with two teams set to be massively disappointed at missing out.

In a unique set of circumstances, five teams actually managed to qualify for the Champions League for the current campaign after Manchester United also snuck in by winning the Europa League in 2017. And the same could well happen again if Arsenal win Europe’s second competition this year.